During the month of August, the number of people identifying themselves as Democrats increased for the first time in six months. The number of Republicans also increased, pushing the number of unaffiliated voters to the lowest level in more than a year.

The latest results show that 37.4% of Americans consider themselves Democrats. That’s up a point-and-a-half from last month and the highest total for Democrats in six months.

The number of Republicans also increased more than a percentage point in August and now stands at 32.5% of all adults. That’s the second gain in three months for the GOP and the highest number of Republicans in thirteen months.

As a result of these gains, the number of unaffiliateds fell nearly three percentage points to 30.1%. That’s the lowest level in fourteen months (see history).

From a longer-term perspective, the number of Republicans has fallen nearly five percentage points since November 2004. The number of Democrats has fallen more than a point over that same time frame leading to a six-point increase in the number not affiliated with either major party.

These results are based upon tracking surveys of 15,000 adults per month. The margin of sampling error is less than one percentage point, with a 95% level of confidence. Please keep in mind that figures reported in this article are for all adults, not Likely Voters.

The gap between the parties increased slightly this month and Democrats now enjoy a net advantage of 4.9 percentage points. While that’s up from 4.6 points a month ago, it’s a significant decline from 6.9 point advantage enjoyed by Democrats at the end of 2006.

Both parties can look at this gap and consider the glass half full. For Republicans, this is the third straight month that the gap has been smaller than five percentage points. It had topped the five point level for eight straight months from October 2006 through May 2007. In fact, the Democrats’ advantage topped six percentage points in four of the five months between October 2006 and February 2007.

However, while Republicans have succeeded in closing the gap a bit since Election 2006, a little perspective is required. The Democrats currently enjoy a larger advantage than they had at any time from January 2004 through July 2006. Looked at in that context, the Democrats are better prepared for the next election cycle than they were for the last one.

Of course, as was amply demonstrated in 2006, a lot can happen in the year-and-a-half leading up to an election.

Democrats continue to have a significant advantage on ten key issues tracked by Rasmussen Reports. Nancy Pelosi's Party also holds a solid lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot.

Rasmussen Reports provides a daily Presidential Tracking Poll and maintains a database of key stats for all Democratic and Republican candidates. Also available are continuously updated ratings for Members of Congress, Other Political Figures, and Journalists.